§ 12. Mr. Sorensenasked the Minister of Labour what estimate he has of the number of colonial men and women who have come to this country during the past two years who have been settled in regular employment; how many are now unemployed; and the average period elapsing before new colonial registrants secure employment.
§ Mr. WatkinsonThe figures desired by the hon. Member are not immediately available, but I am making inquiries to see how far an estimate can be made.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonHas not the Minister provided this information to the inter-Departmental inquiry which is supposed to be investigating the problems arising from this immigration? Can the Minister state what part his Ministry is taking in these discussions, and what the result is likely to be?
§ Mr. WatkinsonAs I explained to the House last week, so far we have not kept these figures, because we do not make any differentiation on the basis of the colour of the people who are dealt with at employment exchanges. We are looking at the system to see if there is some way of making a record of this without putting up a colour bar.